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Author Topic: Satisfying the Director or The Audience Barry Martin Expert Film Handler Posts: 203 From: Newington, CT USA Registered: Jul 2002 posted 02-16-2003 02:55 PM                        Whenever a sound correction was requested, whether it be a problem with the sound or the volume, I would always ask someone (first a manager, if they were busy I would get an usher) and just ask them to walk the auditorium to check it out. If one person complains it is too quiet, they might need to turn up their hearing aide. If one person complains it is too loud, they may have sensitive hearing (comparitively speaking). I always tried to make the customerS happy, not the customer. By doing so I was taking care of my first priority, insuring the success of my theater and also my second priority (always these are linked) of putting on the show the people involved (not just the director) put so much hard work into.  |  IP: Logged David Favel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 764 From: Ashburton, New Zealand Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-16-2003 03:25 PM                     An interesting thing I heard & hadn't really thought of. If a customer complains about the sound level, ask them where they are siting. If they are against a wall then chances are the sound is going to be harsher than if they were in the middle of the cinema. This may fix their problem.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 02-16-2003 04:05 PM                       quote: is there a published reference to the 40% claim? Jeffry, yes, but I don't remember where. This is something I just remember from years ago, when I was first getting into this business. Probably an SMPTE paper. Regardless, even if human bodies absorbed 0% of the sound, the noise level increases. However, since people occupy considerably more space than a seat back, they will naturally absorb more sound. Find out for yourself, you can hear the difference in the room.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-16-2003 06:27 PM                     There's an old saying in Hollywood: "The projectionist always gets final cut." ...and that's always been my experience, for better or worse.  |  IP: Logged Christian Appelt Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 505 From: Frankfurt, Germany Registered: Dec 2001 posted 02-16-2003 07:26 PM                     We all know that every theatre has its own characteristic "sound" which is the result of different parts in the chain and the room acoustics. So I`d say the projectionist should know what the best level setting is. A little off-topic, but regarding directors: I handled a press showing of film by a Famous European Director Without a Name, and when I prepared the print, it said "1.85" on the cans fresh from the lab (actually it was the answer print). On the print, there was a 1.66 masking which is very common in Europe. Now I asked Mr. Director what format should be used. He smiled and said "As wide as possible" and went off to the buffet. "Then why didn`t you shoot Scope?", I thought and ran the film in 1.85. JUST TERRIBLE! Awkward framing, important details were clipped, not even the titles were intended for 1.85 format. Fortunately, the Great Director left after the first show and we ran the film in 1.66 which looked fine. Give the audience the best possible show using your experience and knowledge - the director won`t be there and does not pay anyway!  |  IP: Logged Keith Madden Film Handler Posts: 8 From: Washington, DC, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 02-16-2003 09:21 PM                     An old story I heard at a 70mm premiere of Dick Tracy about projectionists knowing better than directors and having the final cut: Warren Beatty had wanted all the gunshots to have impact so they were mixed louder than normal. The story involved Arthur Penn's use of loud gunfire in Bonnie and Clyde, supposedly to have the same impact as in the classic western Shane which also had startlingly loud gunfire. When Mr. Penn complained after the screening that the gunfire just didn't seem to have the impact that he wanted, they sent someone up to the booth to check. An old timer in the booth responded to the query by taking credit for fixing the sound problem. "Yes sir! I hadn't heard a mix that bad since Shane. So I did what I did back then and just turned down the fader every time they started shooting!" I think directors are rightfully concerned about audio for the general release, hence the letters in the cans. Many theatres without operators after all just set the faders at a fixed level perhaps to accomodate mono teasers and trailers and just leave it there. But ultimately the projectionist, if there is one, should be the judge of level in the absence of a filmmaker present. You do have the final cut as far as playback is concerned. Go into the auditorium and listen on the first run and set a fader level. You know the room. You know where in the room to listen. You know what to listen for. As for when filmmakers are present I let them do what they want. But if they bring it up too much, and they almost always bring it up, not down, I fabricate quotes from clinical studies that an audiologist cited for me that anxiety and nervousness can result in temporary hearing loss. Anxiety such as that experienced at the first public screening of the film they've previously heard only in a small screening room or worse on video and they are anxious the audience won't like it, but the people in the front rows are experiencing bleeding from the ear drums.  |  IP: Logged

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